Rival
by charcoal-lashes
Summary: Clary Morgenstern was unattainable. She was the captain of North Catholic's cheer squad, and their head flyer. Every boy in all of Tallahassee was just waiting for her to break up with her long since boyfriend, Sebastian Verlac, who was the senior star receiver for Catholic's football team. When Clary starts to feel like she's just going through the motions, she meets Jace. Uh Oh.
1. Chapter 1

CLARY POV

"Clary where are you?!" Sebastian Verlac's voice boomed on the other end of the phone.

"I'm going out with the girls, not that it's any of your business anymore." Clary bit back. She had her phone plugged into Maia's car playing her music for the girls when he had called. He was now on speaker for all of her friends to hear his psycho shit through the stereo.

"Clary tell me where you are right now before I call your father and have him make you come home!" He yelled, his anger rising.

"Maybe you should go bother Kaelie Whitewillow." Clary sang back to him, a smirk on her face. She gulped from her bottle of Jose Cuervo with intent, the liquid burning her throat and making her gag soundlessly.

"Clar-"

"Goodbye, asshole." Clary said, hitting the button on her phone to end the call. Sebastian had cheated on her two days ago with some whore on the South Beach dance team and Clary had found out this morning from her best friend Simon, who played cornerback for North Catholic's football team. He had overheard Sebastian bragging about it in the locker room before their morning practice.

"Good shit, Clare!" Isabelle whooped as the music began to pound through the speakers again of Maia's brand new Lexus. "Now let's go get fucked up!"

The five girls in the car yelled enthusiastically as they sped off to some address Isabelle had gotten from one of her boy toys at East Valley, claiming there was a huge South Beach High party tonight. When she told Clary, Clary had insisted they all go, get blackout drunk, and hope that Kaelie Whitewillow would be there so Clary could beat her ass. Clary knew her father would be pissed once he learned of Clary and Sebastian's breakup, so she decided to hold off telling him until absolutely necessary. She just hoped Sebastian wouldn't take matters into his own hands and tell Valentine himself. Clary's father would undoubtedly take Sebastian's side and encourage her to make amends with him.

Valentine Morgenstern only cared about two things: winning and football. And when it came to Clary's now ex-boyfriend Sebastian Verlac, he could have both.

Clary's brother had graduated high school last year to go play for Texas A&M. So, now that Valentine didn't have Jonathan around to flaunt to all of his friends, he had taken to Sebastian, who was one of the best wide receivers in the whole state of Florida.

Clary's freshman year, it seemed only natural for her to date the extremely good-looking, starting sophomore wide receiver. Clary had been given the spot as North Catholic's head flyer and her brother Jonathan, who was a junior at the time, had said 'It only makes sense for you two to be together.'

And the rest was history. Clary and Sebastian had been North Catholic's it-couple for three years. They always won homecoming court for their respective classes (last weeks homecoming game being no exception.) The school's athletic director even had banners made of all of the sports teams to display for the road on the football stadium and Clary and Sebastian were pictured in the front of their teams, standing next to each other. It was excessive, but her father always footed the bill, and the school never complained.

Clary could hear the music from the party as soon as the girls turned into the expensively housed neighborhood. Cars lined the street that Maia turned on and Clary wondered aloud to her friends how the neighbors hadn't called the cops for the noise complaint. Her question was answered when the girls arrived at large house at the end of the cul de sac. The brick mailbox the Maia conveniently got a parking spot right next to said HERONDALE in large black letters. The Herondale's were an extremely well-respected family in Tallahassee. Celine Herondale was one of the well put together mothers who put on the junior league ball every year and she was always involved in the local charity events that the upper class society hosted. Not only was their son Jace the star quarterback of South Beach's football team, but Stephen, his father, was the head coach. Of course their neighbors wouldn't mind if Jace was throwing a rager. They all probably adored him and South Beach's dominating game against West Orchard was all the more reason for a party.

Clary gulped down more of her fifth as she and her friends stepped out of the car, following the music into the house that was littered with drunk teens pouring in and out of the large, lavishly designed stone structure. Clary knew she could get in some real trouble being here. Not only was Jace Herondale Sebastian's least favorite person on the planet, but he was also her father's. Jace had rivaled against her brother Jonathan for years. Clary could remember Jon's senior year when some scouts came to see Jonathan play against South Beach, and at the end of the game, had approached Jace—who was only a junior at the time—instead of Jonathan with college offers. Valentine already didn't like the family very much considering his football rivalry with Stephen back in the day, and this only added to his hatred. Clary also imagined her father was jealous of Stephen. Clary's mother had left the three of them many years ago and Valentine had always loved the flaunt their money: so Clary imagined he was jealous that Stephen had a wife to flaunt their families wealth.

Clary knew her father missed Joselyn.

"Clary?" Isabelle asked again, clearly annoyed she was already tipsy. Clary had a bad habit of starting way too early and then crashing right around midnight when all of her friends were at their partying peak. She needed to learn how to pace herself.

"Yeah let's go." She slurred, linking her free hand's pinky finger with Isabelle's as she, Iz, Maia, Emma, and Tessa went to join the festivities.

Clary hadn't expected to make such an entrance: but they did. As soon as the five of them stepped into the crowded living room, all eyes were on the imposing Catholic cheerleaders, who were clearly not invited. Isabelle and Emma were two of the most headstrong people she knew, and when Clary glanced at them to see if they were uncomfortable, she wasn't surprised to see that they appeared unfazed. Tessa was a different story however, and she cowered slightly behind Maia—probably afraid that Jace Herondale's cousin Will would be here. Will and Tessa had hooked up a few weeks ago at a party Clary had thrown on the last night of summer. He was a basketball player at West Orchard and Tessa was always found smiling at her phone screen, texting Will of course. Clary remembered how Sebastian had wrinkled his nose in disgust when Clary had told him Tessa had hooked up with a Herondale. Sebastian hated the name Herondale.

Oh look, Clary thought to herself, there's one now.

He was leaning confidently against a wall as he talked to three tall blonde girls who seem infatuated with him. His own blonde curls a mess as he ran his large fingers through them. Clary couldn't help but stare just a tad bit longer than she should have. His body was all rock-solid muscle—she could see it in the way his white t-shirt threatened to tear under his chorded arms. He had a devil-may-care smirk that Clary assumed was eternally glued to his face. She remembered seeing the same smirk on his face as he taunted Sebastian last year after a game that North Catholic had lost. Jace had faked a throw and ran fifty yards for a touch down. Clary remembered not wanting to going home that night because Jonathan was so upset about not getting to talk to the scouts who had picked Jace over him. She recalled that she had planned to go to Isabelle's that night for a sleepover with the girls, but her father, who never cared about where she was, demanded that she spend the night at Sebastian's house to make him feel better about his loss so that he would be ready for next weeks play. Jonathan had tracked her phone for her father to make sure she went there instead of Izzy's.

Thinking about her family, Clary realized that she hated the way her father and brother controlled her. She hated the way Sebastian had controlled her. The alcohol rising up in her, fueling her anger, she set her face into a scowl.

And suddenly, she had an idea.

"Let's get something to drink and then dance like we don't care everyone in this room is staring at us." Isabelle said cheerfully. "Because they all are."

Everyone agreed except for Emma, who mumbled something about having to call her boyfriend, Julian. Over-protective Julian was not thrilled at all that Emma had gone out tonight and Clary had made her promise not to tell him where they were going in fear that he would tell Sebastian.

Once all the other girls had gotten their drinks and Clary had chugged her liquid courage down to the half empty mark, they began to dance amongst the crowd. Boys had been up on each of them, only for one of the girls to snake out of his grasp and continue their fun.

Suddenly, a very pleasant voice came up behind Clary.

"Excuse me." he said.

JACE POV

Jace would know that red hair anywhere.

Clary Morgenstern was the most popular high school girl in probably all of Tallahassee. She was the captain of North Catholic's cheer squad, and their head flyer (had been for 3 years running.) Every boy in all of Tallahassee was chomping at the bit for her to break up with her long since boyfriend, Sebastian Verlac, who was the senior star receiver for Catholic's football team. Total douche. Jace had hated him for 4 long years and wasn't about to stop now. Clary's dad, Valentine Morgenstern, was the biggest booster North Catholic's athletics had; when his son, Jonathan, had been a senior the previous year, he spared the team no expense. The same was true this year. Valentine Morgenstern was a successful business owner, owning half of Florida. Catholic's teams always had new uniforms, the best players from around the country (that Morgenstern had probably paid off), and the most flashy equipment to go along with the hundreds of golden trophies that littered the lobby of the preppiest school in the Southern United States.

South Beach had been Catholic's biggest rival for as long as Jace could remember. His own father, the head football coach of South Beach High School, had said that it was always better to play against the best team rather than be on it. Not only did it make you a better player in the long run, but the feeling of beating the best was the sweetest taste.

Ever since Jace had become the starting quarterback of South Beach's football team his freshman year, they had never lost a game to North Catholic, only fueling the feud between the two schools.

What Clary Morgenstern was doing here in his living room, Jace had no idea. But he was about to find out.

She was swaying to the pumping music, surrounded by the girls on her cheer squad, Alec's cousin—Isabelle Lightwood—being one of them. All of the girls had a red solo cup from Jace's kitchen in their hands save Clary. She was carrying a half empty fifth of tequila that was clearly not for share. People glanced in their direction and whispered questions of why they were at a party of their rival school, especially when North Catholic had won their own football game tonight and there was no doubt an after-party elsewhere for them to attend.

"Excuse me," Jace drawled out, coming to stand directly behind Clary Morgenstern. She whipped around with the rest of her friends. A silly smile on her face to hint at her intoxication.

"You're excused." She countered back, putting on hand on her hip and looking Jace up and down with a knowing smile.

Smirking flirtatiously now at her boldness, Jace took a minute to look her up and down as well. She was scantily clad in a black dress and red heels—her friends wearing similar attire.

"Wouldn't your daddy be ticked off if he knew you were frolicking in the living room of a South Beach football player?" Jace questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. He noticed her gaze go to his exposed biceps, causing his grin to grow as he added, "I know your boyfriend would be pissed."

"What my father doesn't know won't hurt him." Clary said, raising her clear bottle to her lips and taking a greedy slug of the imposing liquid it contained.

By now, some of Jace's friends had flanked him, clearly wanting to know why a bunch of Catholic cheerleaders were at their party. Not that they were complaining. North Catholic had the hottest girls: Clary Morgenstern, Isabelle Lightwood, Tessa Grey, Emma Carstairs, and Maia Roberts being prime examples. Jace's best friend, Alec was now standing beside him, smiling to himself, already knowing what Jace was thinking. They had been friends for years, and Alec knew his every move.

"What're you doing here Izzy?" Alec assessed his cousins clothing—or lack thereof. "I thought Catholic won tonight."

"We did, but.." Isabelle trailed off, looking at Clary.

"But what?" Alec asked.

Clary piped up, "What Isabelle was going to say was, 'but Clary got cheated on and the only after party worth going to is at her ex-boyfriend's house.'" Clary locked her gaze with Jace's and smiled, "So we crashed."

Jace raised his eyebrows at the news that Clary was now single. He had heard a rumor that Sebastian had hooked up with Kaelie Whitewillow, an easy conquest that Jace was ashamed to admit he had done before. Clary Morgenstern and Sebastian Verlac had been dating for years—every girl that wanted Sebastian hated her and every boy that wanted Clary hated him. So naturally, they had a lot of haters of the same sex.

Alec, Michael, Raphael and the few others behind him, waited a beat for Jace to speak as he stared into the mesmerizing green eyes of Clarissa Morgenstern. Daughter to his school's biggest rival's main donor. Sister to his biggest on (and off field) opponent for 3 years. Apparently now ex-girlfriend to the current starting wide receiver of North Catholic. Captain of the cheerleading squad to the school that he and all of his friends were supposed to despise.

She was off limits.

But Jace didn't care.

"The more the merrier." Jace cooed slowly, never taking his eyes from hers. She smiled slowly, her friends eyeing them suspiciously behind her.

"Glad you could have us."

 **Hope you enjoyed.. plz leave reviews :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Updating after one day is a huge rarity and it will probably never happen again so please enjoy!**

CLARY POV

When Clary Morgenstern had kissed Jace Herondale that night, she was only thinking about one thing: get back at Sebastian.

When Clary Morgenstern was full-on making out with Jace Herondale in his bedroom that night, she couldn't seem to get her mind to properly think about anything.

When Clary Morgenstern had sex with Jace Herondale that night, she never wanted to stop.

Clary had been overly flirtatious to him after he had allowed her and her friends to stay. Isabelle had gotten Alec drunk and they were impersonating and making fun of their great aunt Marjorie in fits of giggles on the floor. Emma had gotten so drunk that Tessa had called a flustered Julian to pick her up. He had raged at Maia for being a terrible DD and letting her get sloshed before putting Emma in his car and taking her with him. Julian meant well, but when it came to Emma and her recklessness, he was a mess. Tessa had vanished shortly after Emma's departure and Clary had the sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with the other Herondale boy that had shown up just after Clary's meeting of Jace. Maia was letting boys do body shots off of her. Maia and her on-again off-again boyfriend Jordan were currently not together and she always took the opportunity to be scandalous when she could. After sharing more than a few drunken kisses, Jace had bent down to whisper in Clary's ear, begging her to go upstairs with him.

Clary was extremely drunk, but she didn't care. The only person that was probably more drunk than her was Jace, but he still conducted himself in the same cool manner that he was known for. Clary had never before thought much on Jace Herondale. But now, as he gripped her hand and led her up the curved staircase, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Maybe it was the alcohol scattering her brain every which way. But he had just been so charming all night, completely ignoring anyone that would attempt to interrupt their conversation and holding her gaze with his own golden one. Jace opened his bedroom door for her and graciously let her through, asking if she wanted him to get her something else to drink.

"Perhaps water since you've been nursing that vile bottle of 100 proof all night," he joked, motioning at the now almost empty bottle in her hands. Clary had let Jace take a few swigs with her throughout the night.

"Yeah," she giggled, "that's probably a good idea."

Clary sat down on the edge of his bed, setting the bottle on the floor at her feet as she looked up to gaze around his room. There was only one word to describe it: clean. His walls were dark blue with dark hardwood floors to match—which she thought was strange since most bedrooms she had been in were carpeted. He had a black desk with a plain MacBook, a calculus assignment, and two books on it. A black desk chair was neatly tucked under the desk that was placed in front of an expansive window, overlooking the Herondale's backyard which was too dark for Clary to get a good view of. The room was rather large; its clean and emptiness making it appear even bigger. Jace had three doors leading out of his room which were all closed. Clary assumed that one was for a bathroom, the other a closet, and the final a door to the hall that Jace had disappeared through to get Clary a glass of water. A nightstand with a pathetic lamp sat to the right of his king-sized bed, blankets neatly tucked and folded on it. The only other object in the room was a wooden, black chest of drawers, on it a single football and absolutely nothing else. The rooms emptiness gave it an un-intimate feel—as if no one lived here at all.

When Jace returned, there was a glass of water in his hand.

"There ya go, Red." he slurred, obviously plastered. "Drink up."

She took the glass from him gratefully and did as she was told. She downed the entire thing slowly, taking in every drop as Jace waited patiently for her to finish, sitting beside her on his bed.

"You know," she mused, placing the now empty glass in his outstretched hand, "I think my father would kick my ass if he knew I was in your bedroom right now."

Jace laughed. A smile lighting up his face that made Clary mentally swoon as he placed the glass on his desk next to his computer. It was nicer than his signature smirk.

"You know, I think your father would be more inclined to kick my ass." He answered. "Not yours."

"I think that there are several people that would kick your ass over the fact that I'm in your bedroom."

Jace gazed at her with a look in his eyes that Clary couldn't place, "Yeah probably every boy in Tallahassee."

At this, Clary laughed, her head craning back and threatening to topple her over. She knew that she was popular. Boys were always in her Instagram direct messages telling her how beautiful she was. Random people would add her on Snapchat and if she would accept, they would try to be her friend—or boyfriend. She was used to it.

"I was thinking more Jonathan, or Sebastian." She replied, falling back on his bed with a thump. "Or I guess Simon too." She was more talking to herself now, listing all of her guy friends that played football that shared the mutual hatred for all things Herondale.

Jace moved to hover over top of her, his face close, "Doesn't bother me."

Clary, still drunk, smiled and moved her legs wide, inviting him to place his body between them. He did.

"You should really be in fear for your life, if I'm being honest." She continued as Jace's hands began to lightly trace the side of her hip, his face now inches from hers. "If someone found out about this, you could get your ass kicked."

Jace snorted as he bent down even lower, his lips just centimeters from hers. His breath smelled of alcohol when he whispered back, "I think I could take whatever came my way."

Clary knew what had happened after that. And it had been a mess.

After fooling around for an hour or two, Clary wobbly stood up now and searched for her phone. Jace had passed out and his arms were open, showing where Clary had been laying for the past fifteen minutes. They hadn't done much talking, and after their third round, Jace had pulled Clary to his side and stroked her hair while he fell into a deep sleep. Jace was good at sex. Like damn good. When she stood from her bed her thighs banged with a familiar ache that usually was caused by Sebastian. Clary, now starting to finally sober up, hoped that she wouldn't remember the nights events in the morning.

When she found her phone, cast aside on the floor, her stomach dropped.

 _7 Missed Calls: Dad_

 _3 New Messages: Dad_

 _2 Missed Calls: Sebastian_

 _1 Missed Call: Jonathan_

 _13 New Messages: Sebastian_

She was dead. And as if to further prove that point, Clary heard yelling coming from downstairs. It was loud enough to wake up a groggy Jace.

"Babe," he croaked out, sitting up slowly, "What're you doing?"

Clary was now frantically running around his room, throwing her dress back on over her shoulders and tripping as she fumbled to put her tall heels back on.

"I gotta go. Sorry." She said, not woman enough to look him in the eye.

She heard him call for her as she raced down the stairs in search of her friends. They needed to leave. Now. The yelling grew louder as she descended the eloquent staircase, banging her shoes loudly on the wooden steps. Clary had just put her right foot down on the first floor when her eyes snapped up to see a familiar face, screaming at Alec Lightwood.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS MY GIRLFRIEND?!"

Sebastian Verlac was up in Alec Lightwood's face, very pissed. He was wearing the jersey he had played in earlier, the number 17 boldly printed in white on the front of the blue and black material. All of North Catholic's football team would attend the after party in their uniforms: it was tradition.

At her arrival, all eyes in the room darted to Clary. The party had died down immensely since she had gone upstairs. It was now past 2 am and the only people left in the living room were five passed out bodies on the floor, Isabelle, Maia, Tessa, Will Herondale, Alec Lightwood, Raphael Santiago, Michael Wayland, Sebastian, Simon, Jordan Kyle, and Magnus Bane.

"Shit," Clary mumbled.

Sebastian's angry eyes did not soften at the sight of her, but he did take a step back out of Alec's personal space.

"Clary, get outside and go get in my car." He ordered, pointing to the front door. "Your dad and I have—"

Feet thumping against the stairs sounded from behind Clary and she closed her eyes tightly, already knowing how this was going to end.

"Clary why are you—" Jace started, only to come up short when he saw the scene before him. "What the fuck are you doing in my house, Verlac?"

Sebastian's faced contorted into anger that Clary had never seen before as he looked between Clary and the boy standing behind her, who was now moving slightly in front of her in a protective stance. Sebastian was deathly calm when he said, "Herondale. You're dead."

Sebastian took three tactful steps toward Jace, shoving Clary out of the way before lunging for the blonde boy, taking him down to the floor with a bang.

Clary recalled her screaming, lots of boys getting involved in the ruckus, and Simon lifting her over his shoulder to put her in his car.

Clary woke up the next morning in Simon's bed.

The two of them had been best friends every since they met in Spanish freshman year. Simon had been previously scouted as one of the popular freshman boys because he was muscular and a good football player. He had picked on her the first day of class to show off to some of the other students, shocked when she picked on him back. They had been inseparable ever since. Being one of Sebastian's friends since elementary school flag football, Clary and Simon had only gotten closer as her relationship with Sebastian had furthered. Clary would spend the night at his house all the time, go shopping with his sister, and tell his mother the school gossip. Despite Sebastian's track record of being a crazy, jealous boyfriend, he had never had a problem with Simon, though Simon's girlfriends had always been weary of her. The thought was ridiculous. Clary and Simon were like brother and sister.

She sat up slowly, her hangover starting to set in.

"I'm an idiot." Clary mumbled to herself as she got out of bed and went off to find Simon, ignoring her conscious telling her to call her dad back. She figured however, that Simon had probably already done that for her.

JACE POV

There was no one else in the whole world that Jace hated more than Sebastian Verlac. The events that played out last night only further solidified his decision on him being the biggest asshole Jace had ever set eyes on. When Jace had heard the yelling coming from his living room, it didn't register what was going on. He was still drunk and groggy from his sleep. When Jace saw Clary frozen at the bottom of the stairs, a shaking Sebastian Verlac pointing at her like an owner would its pet, Jace snapped.

As soon as Jace was knocked to the ground, his and Sebastian's friends had swarmed in on the fight. Jace's friends pulling Sebastian off of him, Sebastian's friends grabbing at Jace, who was thrashing against their pull. He was vaguely aware of Clary and her friends leaving, and he saw Simon Lewis—the North Catholic corner back—throwing a drunk and spluttering Clary over his shoulder. All of Tallahassee really was obsessed with this girl.

Jordan Kyle (Catholic's QB1), Isabelle, and Magnus Bane (Catholic's kicker) hauled an angry Sebastian out of Jace's living room, following Simon and the girls.

"You're fucking dead you piece of shit Herondale!" The three of them were now all shoving Sebastian out of the door, yelling at him to shut up and get out. "I will fucking kill you!"

When they had finally pushed him out, Isabelle slammed the front door, leaving Jace's living room in utter silence. The only sound that could be heard was Jace's angry breathing, his chest rising and falling quickly. Jace walked to the window, opening the blinds and searching the dark of the street for Clary. Most of the cars had gone and the only one left was a Silver 2018 Lexus RX350 that Sebastian was being shoved into by a furious Isabelle Lightwood. Clary must have gone off in a different car.

Jace turned on his heel, a rage radiating off of him that caused each boy in the room to take an involuntary step back.

He made for the stairs, never looking up from his feet as he fumed out, "In three weeks, we're beating North Catholic so bad that they refuse to ever play South Beach again."

 **Please check out some of my other stories if you like this one! None of them are finished yet... I have a thing for always having several works in progress. But I WILL be finishing all of them. Hopefully by the end of July! Leave reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

CLARY POV

"Don't worry," Simon soothed when Clary had found him in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal, "I called Valentine last night and told him that you were drunk and asleep. I told him that Sebastian and I had everything taken care of and you were staying here."

Clary sighs in relief. "Thank god. Ugh I could just kill that asshole for calling my fucking dad on me. What a fucking tattle tale."

Simon winced. "Oh yeah, you're dad also asked me if you two had worked things out… I guess Sebastian told him you dumped him."

"Well did he happen to mention that he CHEATED ON ME?!" Clary fumed, slamming her hands down on the kitchen counter top.

"Dunno," Simon shrugged. He took a bite of his Cocoa Pebbles and directed his now empty spoon at her with a pointed look. "I told you not to date him."

"Do you have to constantly tell me I told you so?" Clary whined in defeat, laying her pulsing forehead onto the cool granite.

Despite the fact that Sebastian and Simon were long since childhood friends, Clary and Simon were closer. Simon had told her from day one not to date Sebastian, that he wouldn't treat her right. But, of course, Clary hadn't listened.

"Will you just take me home?" She moaned into her arms. "I just wanna get the lecture about dumping him over with so I can go out with Isabelle tonight."

Everyone knew Valentine Morgenstern's priorities were mixed up. Clary and Jon had always been allowed to stay out as late as they wanted, go wherever they pleased, drink, vandalize someone on a rival team's house, and party. He simply didn't care about the trouble they could get themselves into. But what Clary and Jon were never allowed to do, was put anything before football.

It was a shit show when Clary walked into her house, Simon bidding her good luck before she readied herself for the fight.

"You're going to mess up Sebastian's entire senior season, Clarrisa!" Valentine yelled. "He's going to be absolutely heartbroken and North Catholic can kiss state goodbye!"

"Did you even hear me, dad?" Clary screeched back, her voice echoing in their large foyer. "He cheated on me! Who the fuck wants to be with someone who cheats on them!?"

Valentine angrily fisted the wall next to him, demanding her to see his side of things. "Sebastian made a mistake, Clarissa! You need to learn to look past this so the two of you can move forward. You and Sebastian have been together for years and you know that you aren't ready to just throw all of that away! When you're in an adult relationship you forgive and forget."

"God dammit dad would you listen to yourself!" Clary hollered, now moving past him and out of the foyer, ascending the white marble staircase that was lined with Morgenstern family portraits and expensive art. "I was out at a wild party drinking all night and didn't text you one time. But of course all you care about is me breaking up with the senior football star! You're my father! When you're daughter tells you that her boyfriend cheated on her you're supposed to say 'I'll kill him' or threaten to break every bone in his body!"

Clary was now stomping up the stairs, tears beginning to form behind her eyelids.

"You know good and well that Sebastian is going to make it big, Clarissa! He has been like family to us for so long and now you're just done with him? Just like that?!" Valentine's strong, authoritative voice echoed through the great house. She could have heard that echo from the attic and he needn't follow her—he did though.

"Yes!" Clary argued over her shoulder, still taking the stairs. "Just like that!"

"Clarissa you call that boy back and you fix things right now!" Valentine paused for Clary to answer, but she just kept on walking, reaching the first landing and turning to head up to the third floor where her bedroom was. "DAMMIT CLARISSA ADELE YOU DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!"

She went anyway.

And, eventually, her father stopped his yelling, leaving her be.

JACE POV

It was bi week.

And bi week meant vigorous weekday practices before school and after; it also meant a free weekend. But when Jace walked into lifting training Monday morning before homeroom, he knew that a free weekend wouldn't be good for the plan he had laid out with Alec just yesterday afternoon.

 _Jace had been heated over Friday night's debacle all weekend, Alec going with him on his long runs and lifting with him to help Jace let off steam. The fact that he couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful red head he knew he couldn't have hadn't helped. Jace pressed the bar up and down several times while Alec stood above him, waiting for Jace to crack under the weight. Jace never cracked. Not even when he was doing 10 reps of his max weight, something he had been doing for the past half hour. Sweat dripped to the bench under him, no shirt on to help soak up the perspiration. With a final grunt, he homed the bar back onto its supports, sitting up to relay his thoughts to his best friend._

 _"_ _I want everyone going hard for the next three weeks. Especially this week since it's bi week." Jace said decidedly._

 _"_ _Everyone always goes harder during bi week." Alec responded incredulously. "That's how it's always been."_

 _"_ _No, that's not what I mean." Jace's blood pressure began to rise as he thought back to Sebastian Verlac in his living room just two days before. He stood and walked over to a thick, black punching bag in his home gym. He didn't bother to wrap his hands before he stuffed an angry punch into its heart, fueling his fire. "I want everyone to be beyond focused this week. We're beating Catholic this year."_

 _"_ _Jace," Alec reminded, "we've beat Catholic three years in a row. What's gotten into you?"_

 _Jace looked to a concerned Alec who was now leaning against one of the mirrored walls, confusion on his angular face. Alec and Jace had been best friends ever since he could remember. They had been neighbors growing up, gone to the same schools, and played on all of the same teams. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone a day without talking to him. He remembered the day Alec had come out to him sophomore year. Jace remembered feeling honored that he was the first person Alec had told._

 _"_ _I want to see Sebastian Verlac crumble." Jace said menacingly, never feeling rage like he did now. The way he had talked to Clary the other night churned his stomach. The way he'd snapped at her like in owned her made him want to pummel his fist through that rat-like face of his. When he'd seen Clary's genuinely terrified expression, Jace had wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and tell her to go back upstairs; that's what he could have done if Clary was his._

 _"_ _I think you're still a little riled up from Friday night." Alec said decidedly, moving from the wall to hold the punching bag in place for his blonde comrade._

 _Jace shook his head, "We're going to crush North Catholic if it's the last thing I do. And I already have an idea on how to make our future victory even sweeter."_

"So there will be no party on Friday night. We're all going to North Catholic's game to watch them play. It's an hour or two away so find a ride." Jace commanded once he got everyone's attention in the locker room. He heard a few grumbles from the back but after the long and heartfelt speech he had given, most everyone was on board. South Beach was going to train harder than ever this week, go to Catholic's game on Friday, and go back to Alec's on Saturday. No drinking.

"One final thing." Jace said, looking around at his fellow teammates. "Who's got Clary Morgenstern's number?"

CLARY POV

When Clary walked into school Monday morning, the whispers followed her. By now, everyone at North Catholic had heard about the downfall of the school's "it-couple," and those who hadn't heard were being filled in during first period.

Clary's heels clicked against the polished floors as she made her way to Chemistry, her least favorite class. All of the girls around her were dressed similarly to her: white button down, blue-plaid mini skirt, and a matching blazer. Clary's white shirt wasn't tucked into her skirt and her blazer was unbuttoned, leaving her looking effortless. Her makeup was done lightly, her pink lips shining with a fresh coat of gloss and her red curls were tamed, flowing down her back and swaying with each step she took. Diamonds were pressed into her ears and a silver Tiffany bracelet graced her wrist. Simon had always joked that if you took one glance at Clary you would be blinded by money, and she figured it was probably true. As much as she hated her father's need to flaunt their families wealth, Clary couldn't deny that she had expensive taste: always wearing designer clothes and expensive accessories.

The boys at North Catholic wore khakis, a white button down, a tie, a blazer to match the girls, and black shoes. Clary looked down at her own feet, grateful that the girls weren't expected to wear certain shoes. Clary had always hated the uniform, which was one of the reasons why she liked being a cheerleader so much—cheerleaders could wear their cheer uniforms on game days. It made Friday's just that much sweeter.

Clary huffed as she sat down in her seat, intrusive eyes glimpsing in her direction. She was used to it, people always had the latest gossip on her—whether it was true or not—and she had learned to ignore the rumors. Isabelle sat down next to her, running in just as the bell rang, flashing a smile at Mr. Regard when he glowered at her. Isabelle was always fashionably late or extremely early. There was no in between, save for today.

"How was your dad this morning?" Isabelle whispered, settling into her seat beside her red-headed friend. Isabelle always managed to look like absolute perfection. Her long black hair shone straight down to the small of her back and her makeup made her look like the cover of a magazine.

All weekend Clary's father had refused to speak to her. The only time he did talk to her was when he saw a missed call from Sebastian on her phone that she had accidentally left out on the kitchen counter. He had been calling and texting her all weekend.

 _"_ _Clarissa! Clarissa!" Valentine had hollered, striding into the living room with her sleek black phone in his hand. "You have a missed call from Sebastian."_

 _"_ _Yeah and about a hundred other missed calls from him to go with it." She droned back, not looking up from the TV which had a raging Khloe Kardashian on it. "You can just leave it on that table."_

 _He had lightly sat her phone down on the table she had indicated and left the room, grumbling per usual._

"Didn't even see him." Clary responded evenly as she continued her doodling. Chemistry was boring to Clary and there were pages upon pages of doodles in her notebook to prove that opinion. "He's leaving tomorrow for some work trip so I won't have to deal with his dramatics for a few days."

Clary and Isabelle whispered casually back and forth throughput the lesson, chatting nonchalantly about cheer practice and the news that Maia had been very secretive about who she was with Saturday night. All the girls had gone to spend the night at Isabelle's and when Emma woke up in the middle of the night, Maia had vanished.

A light ring sounded from Clary's purse under her desk, snapping her out of her revere of daydreams.

A few people looked back at her in annoyance, clearly trying to pay attention, but Clary paid them no mind as she dug through her Louis Vuitton for her iPhone. Thankfully, Mr Regard hadn't heard it and she ducked her head as she opened the text from the unknown number.

 _ **hey, it's Jace**_

Startled, Clary blinked and read the text again. Why on earth was Jace Herondale texting her. She noticed Isabelle's look of curiosity from the corner of her eye but didn't address it. Instead, her fingers betrayed her inner voice, boding her to wait a few good minutes before responding and she quickly typed back.

 _ **uh… hi?**_

Almost immediately, three dots popped up onto her screen and she smiled. Quickly exiting her messages, she put her phone on silent and threw it back into her purse.

Moments later, the bell rang.

"Who was that?" Isabelle asked.

"No one." Clary dismissed, hauling herself to the hall so she could whip out her phone at her locker and check his response. Thankfully for Clary, Isabelle's next class was on the opposite side of the building, therefore she never had enough time to stop and chat with Clary at her locker if she wanted to get to class. Normally, tardy-savvy Isabelle would go to her anyway, but for some reason, Isabelle seemed to be in an on-time mood and she skipped the locker conversation with Clary.

When she opened the royal blue, metal locker door, Clary whipped out her phone, all too eager to see what Jace Herondale could have to say to her.

Jace Herondale—as much as she hated to admit it—was gorgeous. His blonde curls fell adoringly in a crown upon his head, daring to cover his golden eyes whenever it got too long. Not that Clary had ever stared at him before enough to notice (except that she had.) That weekend when she realized that she had slept with him, her heart skipped a beat. Unfortunately, Simon had diffused any sliver of hope she had about seeing him again when he reminded her who he was. Not only was he a player, but he was off-limits to Clary in every way. He was a Herondale. And then Simon reminded her who she was. She was a Morgenstern.

Her red finger nails tapped rapidly against her screen to unlock her phone, opening the new message from Jace.

 _ **i just wanted to make sure you were okay after the whole episode that went down on friday**_

Clary smiled a small smile into the screen light, people loudly walking by her down the busy hallway.

 _ **yeah im fine, thanks :)**_

"What're you smiling at?" Simon intruded, lazily thumping his body up against the locker next to her. Stealing a curious glance at the phone in her hands.

"Nothing." she piped, quickly closing her phone and giving him her full attention, nervous he had seen something. Simon, no matter how good of a guy, would never approve of Jace based on the mere fact that he was a rival. "Let's go to second." She muttered, slamming her locker shut and dragging him after her as they made their way to AP Lang.

 **Sorry it took a few days... Thanks for the reviews :)) Can't wait to start on the next chapter**


	4. Chapter 4

**CLARY POV**

"Let's just take it from the top guys," Clary said. "We've gotta nail this finish."

The North Catholic cheer coach rarely ever made it to practices—not that they needed her—so Clary and Isabelle were usually the ones in charge.

Setting back up into their starting formation, Clary took a deep breath and waited for Isabelle's count. After all those years of flying, Clary would have thought she would have gotten used to the giddy sensation of soaring through the air, completely relying on the people holding you up from below. The breathless feeling of adrenaline was still there, though.

They mechanically performed the rest of the routine, all the girls exhausted from their long hours in the gym. Practice had technically ended ten minutes ago, but Isabelle had thought they should do at least one more run through so that tomorrow they could all get out of practice early and head to Clary's house for Thursday night Grey's Anatomy. Valentine wouldn't be back until Saturday evening, and Clary and her friends were using every second of an adult-free house that they could.

When they had finally finished, Clary dashed to the locker rooms to check her phone for any new messages from Jace. Ever since Monday morning, they had been periodically texting throughout the day for the past three days. Every time his name popped up on her phone, she had to actively fight the urge to smile.

"Lover boy text you back yet?" Emma teased, coming in through the swinging door right behind Clary. Clary made a face at her and picked up her cell.

"Ugh," Clary groaned. "No, but Sebastian's still hitting me up without shame." Clary tossed her phone back in her purse as the rest of the squad began to file in, each chatting with one another about their weekend plans.

"So Clary, are you throwing the post-game victory party on Friday since your dad's gone?" Maureen, a sophomore tumbler, asked. People never seemed to question whether the North Catholic would lose, a victory party was always set up days before the game. Immediately, all of the girls began to encourage the idea of Clary throwing a rager.

"Oh my God, Clare, please have one." Maia begged as she took off her shoes.

"That would be so awesome." Another girl chimed in.

"We would all stay and help clean up," Emma offered, a smirk on her face, "please, Clary?" Emma was always looking to party, no matter the situation. Right after her mom died last spring, her only coping mechanism was to go out and get completely hammered. It was no wonder Julian worried so much.

"Maybe the hottie Herondale boy will return the party-crashing favor." Isabelle mumbled so only Clary, Emma, and Tessa could hear. "And maybe he'll bring his cute cousin, Tess." She side noted, winking at an irritated Tessa.

Shrugging her shoulders, Clary conceded. "Yeah, alright. Spread the word."

 **JACE POV**

Jace was grinning at a witty text Clary had sent him when Jessamine Lovelace threw herself at him—for the third time in two weeks. She all but slammed her body into the locker next to his to get his attention, a sultry smile waiting for him when he looked up from his phone.

"Hey, Jace."

"Hey, Jessamine," he replied cooly, a smirk settling on his face. It was instinct for Jace to flirt back, he couldn't help it.

"For the millionth time, Jace, we're friends. You can call me Jessie." She said like she was doing him some kind of favor. Jessamine Lovelace was popular, but he was Jace Herondale. He didn't really give a shit about most people's nicknames whether he had permission to use them or not. Plus, him and Jessamine weren't exactly friends, so he stuck to full names.

"Right." He dismissed, shutting his locker and putting his phone away, forgetting momentarily about the gorgeous red head waiting for a reply in his back left pocket. "What's up?"

"Well since there's not a game on Friday the cheer squad doesn't have practice…" She drawled, making it very obvious what she wanted to be doing Friday night. "I guess I was just wondering what your plans are since you won't be busy on the field."

His grin widened, but he knew he had plans. Plans that he would without a doubt see Clary Morgenstern at. Suddenly, at the thought of the tiny, Catholic cheerleader, his grin faltered and his flirtatious facade went with it.

"Actually, Jessamine, I've got plans. The team's going to scout out North Catholic on Friday. Bi week doesn't mean off week." He added, reciting a line his father had always drilled to South Beach's team every bi week.

"Oh," she paused, moving to trail her hand on his bicep, "well what about after?"

"Uh," Jace began, ready to blow her off.

"Hey Jace!" A girl with long, dark hair called out as she walked by them down the hallway. He recalled sleeping with her sometime over the summer and could have sworn her name started with a C.

"Hey!" He hollered back as she made her way down the hall.

"You were saying…" Jessamine huffed irritably, attempting to get his attention once more.

"Oh yeah, uh, I can't… sorry." And at that, he started toward the door, on his way to practice.

 **FRIDAY…**

The only time Jace had ever been on the North Catholic campus was his Sophomore year when he single-handedly beat them with four of his own touchdowns—a rarity for a quarterback. Now that he was here, he was able to take in the school not as an opponent, but for what it really was: a preppy, rich kid establishment. School wasn't the right word, establishment was. Alec had driven him, Raphael Santiago, and Michael Wayland in Alec's brand spankin' new Jeep Cherokee and Jace still felt like they had shown up looking, well, poor. The building itself looked like a modern home in Beverly Hills. The entire front lobby of the school was free of walls, glass instead showed the inside to a spotless common area and if you craned your neck just slightly as you rounded the first corner of the school, you could see where the line of cobalt blue lockers began down the hall. The lawn was perfectly kept: grass that seemed to be photo-edited from the gorgeous green was pristinely manicured under bushes of white Viburnum and the occasional Dogwood tree.

From the street, you could see the large banner adorning the side of the building which promoted the schools well-known athletics. Every varsity team player was pictured in groups by team along the large canvas. The football team, basketball team, volleyball team, and cheer squad were in the forefront with the golf team, women's basketball team, hockey team, track and cross country team, lacrosse team, baseball team, boys and girls soccer teams, girls field hockey team, and softball team in the back. If you were driving by and you daughter ran cross country, you would have to squint ever so slightly and know her exact spot on the ginormous banner to see her, but once in the parking lot, the huge spectacle clearly showed every face of all the varsity student athletes at North Catholic. The boys would cross their arms, and the girls would have their hands on their hips. However, at the very front of the banner, Cameron Ashdown, Clary Morgenstern, and Sebastian Verlac stood side-by side, the basketball team next to Cameron, the cheer team slightly behind Clary, and the football team to the left of Sebastian.

Damn, Jace thought, Clary's dad really was that loaded. And, damn, Jace thought again, Clary looked really hot up there in her tiny uniform with her arms crossed, smiling down at onlookers.

Jace decided then that he would be speaking with her tonight, whether she had gotten back together with Sebastian by now, or not.

After practice on Wednesday, Jace vaguely responded to her text, leaving him to receive no reply back. Clary probably wasn't the kind of girl who was used to having to keep the conversation going and, usually, Jace never had to do any talking when it came to girls. So when she still hadn't responded by Thursday morning, Jace texted her again, with a very desperate-sounding good morning text. To that, Clary had responded with a smile "hey." And then, after some meaningless conversation that lasted maybe a few minutes, she had left him on read… again. Jace knew then and there that this was going to be difficult.

By showing up early, it had allowed Alec to get a good parking spot, and when they walked in the stadium, Jace knew that there would be no hiding the fact that South Beach was here to do recon on Catholic's team. One of the players had suggested they all show up incognito, sitting separately and everything. But, Jace had dismissed the idea immediately. He didn't care if Catholic knew they were spying, not one bit. So he entered enemy territory in grey sweatpants and a red hoodie with blue and black letters that said "South Beach Football." The rest of the guys were dressed similarly, wearing sweatpants or jeans and sporting shirts that supported South Beach. The only t-shirts most of them owned were South Beach ones, so showing up in clothes that wouldn't connect them to the school would have meant dressing to the nines.

Despite how early they had gotten there, the student section was almost half-way filled. Their student section's theme tonight was beach and tantalizing senior girls wearing bikinis and lifeguard hats sat on the shoulders of the popular baseball players and basketball players. Jace smacked Michael upside the head for staring at a busty blonde winking in their direction. Jace knew it was probably for him, but he said nothing, not wanting to crush Michael's pornographic day dream that was probably formulating in his head right now. Alec and Raphael who had been talking quietly to each other since they all got out of the car lead to way to where three other South Beach football players sat, up in the top right corner of the stands where there was a shortage in parents. Being at the top of the section, though, didn't stop crazy fanatic parents from casting dirty looks at Catholic's rival team as they filed in.

The opposing team was warming up on the field, no doubt well-aware of the ass-kicking they were about to receive. Jace could already pick out the glum players who had given up before the game had even began. Catholic was good, even Jace could admit to that. Jace was amusedly watching the other team's enthusiastic coach attempt to hype up their QB when Alec, sitting to his right, elbowed him lightly.

"What?" Jace asked, turning to face his friend.

Alec said nothing and didn't meet Jace's gaze, he only jutted his chin in the general direction of a group of girls in a huddle down on the side of the field. More specifically, a group of cheerleaders: Catholic cheerleaders. Jace's head perked up when he caught sight of the familiar red mane that was up in a high ponytail, small curls falling perfectly around her smiling face. She was telling jokes and laughing along with Isabelle Lightwood when Maia Roberts—who had caught sight of Jace and the rest of the team—nudged Clary and whispered something in her ear, causing Clary's head to turn and lock gazes with Jace.

Slowly, Jace gave her his signature smirk and a subtle head nod, that he knew wasn't subtle at all considering every Catholic cheerleader and South Beach football player was watching their interaction. Instead of the desired effect of Clary bursting into a fit of giggles and waving back, her own smirk formed and she nodded her head right back, leaving Jace a little confused. He thought about calling out to her, but she turned back to Isabelle before he could make up his mind.

"That Isabelle Lightwood girl is hot." A guy sitting behind Jace and Alec muttered. Alec was unfazed, knowing his cousin was stunning.

"Are you kidding?" The guy next to his spluttered, "Have you seen Clary Morgenstern? Now that's an ass I would lock down."

Then, Jace snapped.

"Well good fucking luck 'cause girls like that aren't interested in special teams players, Westin." Jace fumed, turning to stare Carter Westin right in the eye.

"Chill, Jace." He said defensively, holding his hands up slightly by his sides. "All yours."

Jace huffed and turned back around, watching Clary chat with her friends, not even bothering to spare him a glance. In his peripheral vision, he caught Alec stifling a laugh at his outburst, but he ignored it. He didn't even know what had came over him and he didn't want Alec psychoanalyzing him.

The cheerleaders suddenly ran onto the field, Clary and the four girls she had brought to his party running alongside her as they led the rest of the squad. The opposing team dispersed from the field, stealing glances at the legendarily sexy Catholic cheerleaders as they started their pyramid, which would introduce the home team. Jace wondered if the countless rumors he had heard about the North Catholic cheerleading team were true: that they kicked girls off the squad if they were over a certain weight, wouldn't let girls cheer a game if they had a zit, or—Jace's personal favorite—that the football team's head captains came to try outs at the beginning of the year and told the cheer captain what freshman weren't hot enough to make the cut.

Suddenly, over the loud speaker, a man with a deep voice enthusiastically introduced the home team, and while his teammate's heads turned either toward the rushing players or the jumbo-tron across the field, his eyes stayed glued to the fiery red head smiling brightly at the top of the pyramid, one leg straightened perfectly by her ear in flexible fashion. Thinking about Clary Morgenstern's flexibility left him in a daze that was rudely broken by Alec who, always knowing what he was thinking, shouldered him and mumbled, "Focus, idiot."

Shaking his head to rid him of the trance, Jace averted his eyes from the beautiful girl he couldn't get out of his head all week, and waited patiently for kickoff.

 **CLARY POV**

"Clary, Jace Herondale is staring at you right now." Maia whispered in her ear after nudging her slightly.

Clary turned to to stands and, sure enough, Jace Herondale in all his golden glory had his eyes glued to her. She was vaguely aware of the stares from the rest of the South Beach football team as he gave her a smirk and nodded at her. Such a player, Clary mused, mimicking his greeting and turning back toward her friends. If he was trying to get into Clary's pants-again—then he was gonna have to work a little harder than a head nod. She was Clary Morgenstern for Christ's Sakes.

As hard as it was, Clary refused to let herself turn back around and steal a glance at him. Knowing that he was staring at her made every second that she didn't break down and look at him that much sweeter. Even when she was up on top of the pyramid, she refused to smile in the general direction of the South Beach players, afraid that if she caught sight of him she would lose focus and take a tumble onto the cold, hard turf.

So, throughout the game she kept her focus, intently watching every move Sebastian made out of habit and throwing a fit whenever the ref made a bad call—which was often. Clary loved football. When she was younger, she could remember begging her dad to let her be on Jon's football teams, never understanding why she couldn't. Cheering became her second favorite sport after her father had decided she needed something girly to occupy herself with—she had grown up as quite a tomboy and meeting girls on competitive cheer teams taught her girl things that her father could never know to teach her: putting on makeup, using tampons, etc. But she still loved football; and being able to be on the field while she watched her favorite game was the cherry on top of cheering.

The dance team and cheer team switched off who got to do halftime performances. At most schools, during football games only the dance team would perform. However, the only bad sport at North Catholic was their dance team, and since the North Catholic cheerleaders were six times national champs, they switched off. Jace Herondale being here on the dance team's night to perform was a relief; she would never be able to focus if she thought about those golden eyes staring at her, watching her every move.

"Let's go get food," Isabelle muttered to her, "I can't fucking stand watching their pathetic excuse for dancing."

Linking her pinky with Isabelle's, Clary let her best friend lead her to the concessions stand.

"Ugh I need nachos." Isabelle groaned as they got in line. "You want anything?"

"Nah," Clary waved her off, "I'm good."

Isabelle gave her a look and opened her mouth to tell her that she needed to eat, but she was interrupted.

"Clary Morgenstern." A smooth voice, dripping in honey said.

Clary turned, though she didn't need to. She knew who was behind her.

"Jace Herondale." She replied, a small smile on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her. Isabelle's cousin and Michael Wayland stood on either side of him, looking like boyd guards. How important did people think this guy was? Did he always need an entourage? He looked her up and down briefly before meeting her eyes. Guys always did that to her: assessed her figure and thought about sleeping with her while they talked to her. Sometimes she could catch guys slipping on their conversation skills because they were staring at her rack. It hadn't mattered then because she had been with Sebastian. But it mattered now, because for some reason she didn't want Jace to be like every other guy. Unfortunately, he likely was.

Suddenly, she wasn't in the mood to flirt with him. "I gotta get back out there," she mumbled to him without explanation. Walking away from Isabelle and back toward the field.

"Clary?!" Isabelle asked, dumbfounded. Isabelle had been convincing her for days to hook up with him again. Clary would have to fill her in on her new guy code that she had come up with about five seconds ago: no players.

She ignored Izzy's outburst and continued to the field, only to make it about six steps before a strong, warm hand wrapped itself around her bicep.

"Clary, wait." Jace began, lightly pulling her back to face him. "Why didn't you text me back?"

She searched his eyes before answering. He seemed almost embarrassed to have to ask a girl why she wasn't texting him back. Clary imagined that that was probably the first time he had ever asked someone that.

Mentally exhausted from dealing with Sebastian and all of the boy drama she had been recently involved in, she decided to be upfront with him, facing him fully and looking him in the eye.

"I'm good at games." She said.

"Uh, what?" His confused look almost made her crack a smile.

"I'm good at games." She repeated. "Before Sebastian and I started dating, he played so many games with me. And when Sebastian and I would fight, I would go out and toy with boys just because I could. So if I wanted to play games with you, I could definitely hold my own." She paused to let her words sink in. "But I don't want to do that anymore. I don't wanna be someone that you're just looking to hook up with because I promise that's not who I am. And despite how great last weekend was, I'm not into hook ups. So if that's what you want, you should just lose my number—whoever you got it from." She finished.

Jace seemed to be taking in her words and he nodded slightly before a slow grin slid on his face. "So you thought last weekend was great?"

Sighing deeply, Clary closed her eyes. Of course he was just like the rest of them. She began to turn away when he stopped her, yet again.

"Clary, wait. I—I'm kidding, I'm sorry." He stammered, snagging her wrist with his hand. "Look, just listen," he began, lowering his voice as he looked into her eyes, "last Friday, it was great. I had the best time with you—and not just when we were, well ya know. You're funny and cool and you're so gorgeous that I sat down my entire team Monday morning and asked every one of my players for your number. When none of them had it I had them all ask around until I got it." Clary couldn't help but smile at his admission, and she said nothing, allowing him to continue. "And that night when that asshole ex-boyfriend of yours showed up to my house… I—well, I was pissed. And I felt like I had to protect you from that prick."

At that, Clary interrupted, "I don't need anyone to protect me from anything," she told him, putting her hands on her hips.

Setting his jaw and narrowing his eyes, "Anyway," he retorted, "What I'm trying to say is, you're not just someone I want to get back in my bed."

Clary surveyed him for a minute, detecting for bullshit.

"Although, you being in my bed again wouldn't exactly be the worst thing in the world." He added.

Clary smacked him in the arm, laughing.

"Just joking, just joking," he chuckled, rubbing the spot she had hit.

"Okay." She said, smiling up at him.

"Okay?" He asked with a similar smile. Clary liked it when he smiled, it was very different than his smirk.

"Okay." Clary repeated, placing her hands defiantly on her hips again. "What're you doing tonight? You know, after you finish scouting out my team."

Jace laughed, "You're team?"

"You heard me." That smile of hers just couldn't go away.

"Well, technically, I gave strict orders that it was to be a tame weekend since we're playing Catholic in two weeks." He said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

Clary threw her head back in a short laugh, "I just asked you what you're doing this weekend and you're telling me that it's boys night in?" She questioned incredulously. "Here," she offered "I'll let you try again. What're you doing after this game?"

Jace began to grin, clearly stunned at her confidence. Clary was used to guys shying away from her boldness. But she knew a guy like Jace would be unbothered, he had enough ego to keep him afloat. After staring at her in awe for another beat, he answered.

"I'm going wherever you're going."

Smirking now, Clary took a few steps backwards toward the gate to the field. "Good," she said, stilling making her way to the field where she would need to be in about twenty seconds, "because I'm throwing the post-game victory party at my house."

She sent him a flirtatious wink before skipping off though the gate, no doubt leaving him staring after her.

 **That took forever, I'm so sorry. This summer I'll be better at updating... probably.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Oops. It's been a while. Hope it was worth the wait.**

Jace had never been to a house as big as Clary Morgenstern's. The word house didn't even do her home justice. Mansion. That was the word to describe Clary Morgenstern's residence.

After North Catholic had won by a total landslide, Jace convinced Alec to drive to the address Clary had texted him, along with a four-digit gate code.

Cars lined the long, newly paved, and extremely smooth drive up to the estate that Clary apparently lived at. Four open mouths gaped at the cool, grey stone structure before them. Music from several different stereos blared from all directions of the house, every light on. North Catholic students filed in the roaring mansion, girls squealing in drunken excitement and boys grinning from ear to ear. Jace recognized all of the Catholic football players, wearing their victory party staple:their sweaty, disgusting jerseys. He had never seen the appeal in wearing a gross game jersey to a party—chicks didn't like guys that reeked of sweat and dirt. However, on the chance that Sebastian was here, Jace was more likely to be favored by Clary because he would undoubtedly smell better. The thought made him smile.

"Ready boys?" he asked, never taking his eyes from the mansion before him.

"Think we'll have to take our shoes off before going in? Or give the butler our platinum cards as identification?" Raphael joked from the back seat.

Ignoring him as they all usually did, they got out of the car and made their way into Clary's.

Jace's phone buzzed in his pocket: a text from his cousin Will asking ' _ **you going to Clary Morgenstern's party?**_ '

 ** _yeah_** he typed back quickly

 _ **see you there**_

Smiling at the thought of hanging with his cousin tonight, Jace put his phone back in his sweatpants pocket and followed behind Michael into Clary's. As soon as he took his first step in, he felt underdressed. Jace had been to only a few North Catholic parties before, each of them more wild than the first. The girls wore short dresses and heels, the boys sporting strictly khakis and either their sweaty jerseys or polo button downs. Knowing Alec was thinking the exact same thing as him, they wrinkled their noses at each other, in agreement on the khaki stigma.

"Score!" Michael hollered. "Free beer!"

Jace rolled his eyes at his friend and watched as Raphael followed. None of them minded that people were staring. Jace had assumed that the rumor mill at North Catholic had flown just as swiftly as the one at South Beach. Everyone had heard about him and Clary Morgenstern. Everyone. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a girl near him whisper, "That's Jace Herondale. Sebastian's gonna flip his shit when he sees them here. Is he with Clary now?"

Smiling, Jace turned to the short brunette in a red dress and matching heels, "Yeah, Sebastian is gonna flip his shit." He gave her a grin and a wink. He could have sworn she almost fainted and her even shorter friend next to her owed gravity thanks for not letting her jaw smash against the polished hardwood. "Do you happen to know where Clary is by any chance?"

The other girl's eyes flicked over his shoulder and he turned on his heel, following her gaze. Sure enough, Clary Morgenstern was doing shots across her foyer table with some guy who had his back turned to Jace. He looked awfully familiar though. When they had both knocked back the liquor, Clary's face contorting at the taste, she grinned at him and giggled.

"I'm gonna go see what that's about." Jace said coldly to Alec, jealousy already heating up in his veins.

"Don't kill him!" Jace heard Alec call.

But Jace decided that if it came down to it, he would ignore Alec's request. Jace walked purposefully over to Clary, hoping she would notice him. She didn't. Despite the fact that he was less than ten feet away from her, she couldn't take her attention from the shaggy, brown-haired boy in front of her. They were in hysterics over something, the both of them obviously drunk.

"Clary Morgenstern," Jace said, raising his voice, "are you drunk?"

Turning away from the boy, she gave Jace her full attention.

"Jace Herondale." She cooed back. Clary could be drunk off her ass vomiting into a trash can and still be the sexiest person in the whole room. Her gold tube top tightened around her breasts and her low cut jeans showed off a diamond belly button ring that Jace couldn't stop glancing to.

"What's he doing here, Clare?" The boy who formerly had Clary's attention asked. When he met his eyes, Jace placed him as Simon Lewis, North Catholic's starting corner back. Simon was an alright guy-or so he'd heard-and a pretty damn good football player. It was clear he didn't like Jace.

Casting a scolding glance his way, Clary grabbed Jace's hand and muttered, "We'll talk about it later, Si."

Jace gave Simon a triumphant smile, which Simon returned with a roll of his eyes, as Clary led him through her house. She shoved by people who greeted her enthusiastically, thanking her for the great party. Clary mostly just smiled back politely and kept on her path. They reached the back foyer which led out to her backyard, equipped with a glittering pool, outdoor bar, and tons of people.

"Tonight," Clary called to him over the pumping music as she opened the door and dragged him with her, "is gonna be fun."

Clary pulled him over the the wet bar where Isabelle was pouring drinks and laughing with a bunch of guys. Jace recognized them as North Catholic football players-juniors. Never before had Jace been afraid of someone younger than him, or someone at all really, but suddenly, Jace's nerves soared. He didn't want them to shun him and make Clary think that hanging out with him was a bad idea. She probably already thought he was only interested in getting in her pants.

As if sensing his hesitation Clary whispered, "They'll be nice I promise. They aren't friends with Sebastian."

"Clare!" One of the boys cheered, causing the rest of the group to turn and smile at Clary, eyes trained on Jace.

"Guys this is Jace." Clary introduced off handedly, grabbing two shot glasses from under the counter and instructing Isabelle to fill them.

"Mark." The one closest to Jace said, holding out his hand. Waiting a beat to see if this was some kind of joke, Jace relented and shook his hand. Greeting the rest of the guys who-surprisingly-did seem genuinely nice.

"I'm already at eight." Clary mused, holding up two shots of clear liquid to Jace. "Think you can keep up, pretty boy?"

She was already wasted, Jace could tell. But she seemed so excited challenging Jace to this game of who could tap out first.

Taking the liquor from her hands Jace said, "Does this mean I'm going to be holding you hair back while you're bent over a toilet tonight?"

"I can take care of myself."

"You won't have to," Jace replied, knocking the alcohol back smoothly, "I've got it." Smiling up at him, Jace plucked her shot out of her dainty grasp and swallowed it, never taking his eyes from hers.

"Hey! I was gonna drink that!"

"You said I had to catch up, right?"

Clary shook her head, a small smile still playing at her lips. She leaned against Jace's side as she turned to include herself in the conversation Isabelle was having with the guys, giving Jace the opportunity to place her slightly in front of him, wrap his arms around her waist, and lean against the bar. The gesture went unnoticed by the girls, but the guys-clearly knowing a marking of territory when they saw one-glanced at Jace's protective hold before engulfing themselves into the heated discussion about some North Catholic calculus teacher.

They had been there for almost two hours and Jace hadn't seen Sebastian Verlac once. Thank God. Him and Clary were now taking their eleventh shot of vodka-Clary had given him time to catch up to her. They had moved inside to Clary's living room couch. Clary sat on Jace's lap with Michael, Raphael, Isabelle, Emma Carstairs, Julian Blackthorn, Jace's cousin Will, and Tessa Grey. They had been telling jokes and stories back and forth. Jace was happily surprised to find that Clary Morgenstern was, well, hilarious. Being the girl that everyone in Florida wanted to bang, Jace assumed that she would have been a little too flirty with guys and even conceited. The whole night however, Clary had stayed glued to Jace's side and not once talked about herself. When someone came up to her to tell her how great she looked or how amazing her house was, she would brush off the compliment and redirect the conversation elsewhere. Unlike most parties Jace had thrown himself, Clary seemed to genuinely know everyone that was in attendance. They couldn't walk three steps before someone would pull Clary into a hug or share the latest gossip with her. The amount of guys she had hugged tonight made Jace very uncomfortable, but what had he expected? This was Clary Morgenstern.

When new people began to join their circle, tightening the comfortableness the couch had once possessed, Clary leaned down to Jace's ear, "Wanna go upstairs?"

Glancing around to see if anyone was watching and seeing no one was, he searched her eyes. They were wide and bright-too bright. "You're drunk, Clary."

"I know." She giggled.

"I'm not hooking up with you if you're drunk," Jace whispered seriously. He hoped that he wasn't one of Clary's drunken whims. He wanted Clary to like him sober, as Clary suspected she wanted him too.

Rolling her eyes she answered, "You don't have to fuck me I just wanna talk. C'mon I wanna show you my room." She pressed, pouting her lips.

Unable to resist, Jace let her pull him up off the couch and drunkenly lead the both of them to the stairs. Jace, being a six foot four, one hundred and seventy pound eighteen year old who partied most weekends had quite a high tolerance. Five foot nothing, one hundred pound, Clary Morgenstern however, did not. With one swift motion Jace swung her up in his arms bridal style and began to ascend the stairs.

Giggling like a school girl, Clary chastised, "You scared me, don't do that." Jace could listen to that giggle on repeat for the rest of his life.

"Won't happen again."

"You don't even know where we're going."

"You can direct me." He said, stopping on the second floor and looking down both sides of the hallway, raising an eyebrow at her, silently asking for directions. Grinning adorably, she shook her head and pointed up the stairs leading to the third floor. Jace glanced up the second set of white marble stairs.

"You're bedroom's on the third floor?" He asked incredulously.

Throwing her head back in laughter, she joked, "Afraid you can't carry me any more?"

Jace scoffed and made his way toward the second set of stairs. "I could carry you up a billion flights of stairs and I still wouldn't put you down."

"Strong guy," she mused, crossing her arms.

"Nah," he replied, not looking at her, "just a strong will to keep the prettiest girl in Tallahassee in my arms."

He could feel her stare, but he didn't dare look. Why did he say that? It had to be the alcohol. But he knew he would have said it sober. Reaching the landing, Jace looked from left to right once more. Clary pointed right. There were three doors on the right side of the hallway and Clary instructed Jace to make his way to the one at the very end.

"How many rooms are on the third floor?" He wondered aloud.

"Five." She replied. If Jace didn't know any better, he would have thought she'd sounded sheepish. He grasped the doorknob and pushed it open, turning his body so Clary wouldn't hit her head on her own door frame.

"What are the other four rooms for?"

The room would have been pitch black if it weren't for the not-drawn curtains. Clary's entire back wall was windowed and the moon's light had a direct path to illuminating her gigantic room. Evading his question, Clary wriggled out of his arms and positioned herself on her bed.

"Will you take these off?" She asked, raising a stiletto-ed heel up at him. Grabbing her foot he looked her in the eye.

"This is all I'm taking off of you tonight."

"You didn't seem to care that I was drunk last Friday night."

Shame washing over him, Jace cast Clary's shoes aside and met her gaze.

"I don't want you to think that's what I'm here for."

Pushing herself up on her elbows to get a better look at him Clary asked, "Then what are you here for?"

Gulping down his fear, Jace looked into the bright green eyes of the small girl before him and said, "I'm here because I haven't been able to stop thinking about the girl in front of me for the past seven days."

His answer had surprised her. She raised her eyebrows at him, stunned at his honesty, though she had to admit that she too had a small crush on him that had been growing over the past week.

"Stay with me tonight," she dared.

Shaking his head he replied, "I told you Clary I'm not doing that unless you're sober."

Rolling her eyes she reiterated her earlier statement that they didn't have to do anything. Admittedly, she was kind of upset though, never before had a guy turned her down for sex and especially not one that she really had an interest in.

Considering her for a moment, he said, "I'll have to tell the guys,"

"They can stay here too. There's plenty of extra bedrooms."

Snorting and removing her other shoe from her foot he joked, "You don't say?"


	6. Chapter 6

Jace dreaded the arrival of Saturday morning's sunrise. Normally, he spent Saturday mornings reveling in the previous night's hangover—usually self-awarded after a Friday night's victory—but this Saturday was a bye week Saturday, and that meant 10 a.m. sharp for arrival to weight room practice.

The alarm Jace had set on his phone the night before served him no purpose as the sun shone brightly through the windowed walls of Clary's bedroom—light bouncing off the mirrored, double-doors of her walk-in closet to effectively wake him up at exactly 8:47, he noted from his iPhone. Clary's mess of red hair tickled his face, his body trapped by her small frame that lay fully on his chest. After taking off her shoes, the two of them had stayed up talking for hours before finally drifting off to sleep. At some point before falling asleep, Clary had changed out of her scandalous outfit and into Jace's red, South Beach hoodie, leaving Jace in a grey t-shirt and boxers (after he had cast aside his jeans onto Clary's white carpet.)

Jace spared a few minutes watching Clary's shoulders rise and fall with each breath, noting how she slept with her lips slightly parted, her eyelashes fluttering almost imperceptibly as she dreamed.

Knowing it was up to him to get himself (along with his other three teammates he'd brought along to last night's party) to practice, Jace begrudgingly shimmied out from under an unconscious Clary Morgenstern and picked up his jeans from the floor. Clary's room was huge. White walls, save from the back wall that was one, huge window, mirrored furniture and a stark white carpet didn't intimidate him, the boy who always kept everything clean—but the mess did. Clothes and shoes of every color that littered the carpet were a tripping hazard for all guests. Pens, markers, crayons, colored pencils, and sheets upon sheets of paper with brilliantly colored sketches covered her makeup vanity, two large chests of drawers and a small, floral bench that sat at the foot of her king-sized bed.

The nightstand next to him supported an open sketchbook, flipped to a graphite-graffitied, half-finished page. Picking it up to inspect it, Jace recognized the line of the character's jaw, a smirk he himself had invented perfectly depicted before him. Glancing back to the sleeping angel on the bed, Jace smiled at the thought that maybe, just maybe, Clary Morgenstern had been thinking about him more than she had let on.

With one last glance at his sleepy redhead, Jace tiptoed out of her room—sweatshirt-less—, shutting her bedroom door softly enough that the click wouldn't sound. Now faced with the task of finding his three best friends, Jace opened every door on the third floor. The double doors at the center of the hall had been doors to a well-filled library, the next to a powder room, and the one after that to a linen closet shelved with fluffy, white towels. The final door at the opposite end of the hall, farthest from Clary's room, was locked. He decided if one of his friends was behind said door, he'd deal with it last. There wasn't enough time to search for the key.

Jace found Alec asleep in one of the second floor guest rooms, its fellow occupant from the night before concealed by the running of the shower in the conjoined bathroom. When Jace had raised a brow in question, Alec had dismissed it. "Don't worry about it, we've gotta find Raphael and Michael."

The other two boys were both already up, invading the Morgenstern's fridge along with some of Clary's cheerleading friends who still proudly sported the previous night's makeup.

"What're you idiots doing?" Jace asked upon arrival into the lavish kitchen.

Michael, who was perched atop a barstool stuffing his face with Eggos, answered, "Eating Valentine Morgenstern's breakfast foods. The evil bastard doesn't deserve such luxuries."

Alec rolled his eyes and instructed the food-stealers to take it to go. "We've got practice. Let's go."

No one spoke on the ride to South Beach High. The four players basked in their hangovers in silence, a local rap station playing on the radio their background music for the trip. Jace thought about his night with Clary: how funny and carefree she was, how much he'd enjoyed hearing about her cheer squad and the art class at school she loved. Shooting her a text to tell her as much, as well as why he'd bailed so early in the morning, he mentally told himself to get to the gym and finish his reps as quickly as possible so he could see her reply once practice was over.

 **Oops. That update took a while. My grandchildren will be attempting to finish these stories centuries from now. Sorry it isn't very long. Expect at least two more updates within the next few weeks :)**


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